Sophie: Newbie At Camp Half-Blood
by ClinkBear
Summary: What is it like to be a newbie camper at Camp Half-Blood for demigods? Follow my slightly timid, shy and endearing character Sophie as she navigates the spoils, toils, fun and triumphs of her new home - beginning with her dramatic first day! Includes interactions with your favourite original characters!


**A/N: I do not own either Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or the Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan.**

******My very first story on Fanfiction. Please enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Catastrophic First Day

As soon as she passed through the strange, filmy substance that was the barrier surrounding Camp Half-Blood, ten-year-old Sophie was falling, tumbling down some sort of hill. She had completely neglected the fact to look where she was going, despite the dark of night, and consequently that very tree root she tripped over caused what happened next.

Sophie crashed, her body plowing into something warm. And hard. _Oh no. _It was the back of a person – a person wearing something that glinted ever so faintly in the dim moonlight. Something like… _armour?_

"I'm so sorry," she tried to speak, but the words came out in barely a whisper, her breath knocked out of her by the fall. The person reacted in what seemed to be instinct, spinning around instantaneously and slashing Sophie with her sword three times in quick succession. Before she could even comprehend what was actually happening, Sophie was gasping in pain. The cuts stung like fire against her skin.

"Monster!" the person yelled. It was a girl, Sophie discovered, her vision blurry from the pain.

_Monster? _"No…" she cried out weakly, but was not heard amidst the mayhem. It was too dark, Sophie realized. They could not discern Sophie, lying on her side in a heap, as being human.

"Attack!" commanded a new male voice. In terror, she curled up into a ball, whimpering, and braced herself for the end. Sophie's father had driven all this way to New York in the middle of the night, just to send her to the only place of safety he knew of. Yet, this was the place where she was going to die – how ironic.

She let loose a sob in shock, fear and desperation. That, was what saved her life.

"Stop! Archers, do not shoot! Grace, look carefully, that's a human!" cried the same voice that had previously yelled "attack". The person who slashed Sophie, or 'Grace', spun around and gasped.

"Oh my gods!" Grace dropped her sword and dashed toward Sophie. Sophie, still sobbing in fright, screamed and tried to get away.

"Grace, move away, you're scaring her!" the male voice scolded. "Ssh, it's okay. No one's going to hurt you – we all thought you were a loose hellhound or some monster that forced through the barrier. We've been having a lot of those lately. It's alright, don't be afraid," he soothed, "Can we take you somewhere more comfortable?"

It was too dark to make out a face, and Sophie had no idea what he was saying, but something about the gentleness and sincerity in that voice convinced her that he could be trusted. She turned her head toward the kindly voice and reached out for him – which resulted in a lot of pain.

"Ahh!" Sophie cried out – from what she could tell there was probably a gash on her side, which burned badly.

"Easy, easy," said the voice, now laced with worry, "It looks like Grace got you pretty bad. We're going to put you on a stretcher okay?"

"I'm so sorry!" cried Grace. She sounded genuinely upset.

"Grace," instructed the male voice, "it's okay. Can you run up to the Big House and let Chiron know what happened? Tell him we'll be on our way with her and get him to prepare ambrosia, nectar, and bandages."

"Yes Percy!" Grace responded frantically, and she was gone.

Sophie had no idea how bad she was hurt, but the pain was worse than anything she had ever encountered. Even worse than the time she broke her arm.

"Ahh," she moaned helplessly, as she felt herself being gently rolled onto her side, a long sheet of canvas guided under her back.

"I know," the male voice, Percy, soothed. "Try to relax, okay?" The stretcher was then lifted. Sophie could tell it was being carried by two people, one by her head – Percy – and another by her feet, one she did not recognize.

They trudged for a while at a steady pace, and finally approached a building – it was blue, Sophie could tell – that was illuminated by several porch lights. The little procession made their way up a few steps before passing through a doorway.

Inside the building, all the lights were on. After being in the dark so long, the light felt blinding. Sophie felt herself being laid on a fairly firm bed – that felt a little like an examination table at the doctors' office.

"Grace McClellan mistook her for a monster, she's got some pretty bad gashes," she heard Percy speak in a hushed tone to someone she could not make out from her line of vision.

Then came the _clop clop clop _of… hooves? What was a horse doing in the building?

"What's your name, child?" a bearded guy with a similar kindly voice suddenly towered over her in her line of vision. What caught her eye, however, was that where his midsection and legs should have been – there was the body of a _horse_. A centaur! Sophie bit back a scream. She had once read about centaurs, but seeing one up-close was disturbing on a whole other level.

The centaur man must have noticed her terrified expression, because he quickly backed away. "My apologies, a rookie mistake. Percy, fetch me my wheelchair please."

The next time Sophie saw the centaur man he was much shorter. She turned her head and saw that he appeared to be in a wheelchair. _How on earth?_

"My name is Chiron," he said, carefully wheeling himself over to her bed, "do you know where you are, child?"

"Nice to meet you," Sophie managed weakly, at which Chiron smiled, "I'm Sophie. Um, I think this is Camp Half-Blood?"

"That is right. I believe, since you managed to pass through the barrier, and was … unfortunately harmed by Celestial Bronze, it is safe to assume you are a half-blood, or demigod." Chiron mused, gently placing two fingers on Sophie's wrist, checking her pulse.

Catching Sophie's confused expression, Percy stepped forward and explained, "Celestial Bronze's what our weapons are made out of – they can't hurt mortal flesh, but can do quite some damage to demigods like us."

Now that the room was lit up, she saw Percy's face clearly for the first time. He looked about eighteen years old, with black hair and sea-green eyes. His expression was concerned.

"Demigods?" Sophie whispered.

"Half-god, half-mortal. One of your parents is a Greek god, like those in greek mythology – except they're not mythical, they're real." Percy finished.

Sophie's hand flew to her mouth in surprise – and promptly gasped in pain.

"Let's take care of your injuries first, Sophie. Your pulse is fine, thank the gods – let's get you some ambrosia, and then Will here can take care of your gashes," Chiron advised, then gestured to another camper – an older boy about Percy's age, with blond hair and blue eyes.

Sophie was handed a little piece of a brown cube and told to eat it – it would help with the pain, Percy said. She put it in her mouth and chewed cautiously. It tasted delicious, and strangely of macaroni and cheese – the way her dad made it from scratch, the way she loved.

The relief was instantaneous – fire-like pain subsided to a dull throbbing sensation. Seeing as Sophie was feeling better and in good hands, Chiron excused himself, promising to return later to check on her again.

"Hi Sophie, I'm Will Solace. Son of Apollo, and resident medic on Camp. Can I take a look at those gashes?" Sophie nodded hesitantly. At this, Percy turned to go, intending to give them some privacy.

"Percy, wait!" cried Sophie. Percy turned around, and saw her pleading, panicked eyes. "Could you stay with me?"

"Of course," he said, taken aback by the sudden request. "What's wrong?" Percy asked, as he arrived by her side.

Sophie hesitated in replying. This place was so strange and foreign, and brutal, it seemed to her. Although mistakenly, she had nearly died at the hands of her new comrades. Despite only knowing him for twenty minutes, this Percy was the only one she felt certain she was safe with.

Also, with his dark hair and sparkling eyes, he reminded her strangely of her father – kindly and gentle, whom her heart ached to see at the present moment.

"I'm scared," she summed up honestly.

"You're alright, no one's going to hurt you," Percy reminded her softly, "let Will have a look, okay?"

Sophie nodded. Will smiled kindly at the nervous child before him, and resumed his assessment.

"Well Sophie, it looks like you do have a few rather deep and long gashes, but thankfully the ambrosia you had stopped the bleeding. We'll clean with nectar, and bandage it. Did you hit your head anywhere?" asked Will, noting her slightly dazed expression.

"Um, I'm not sure." Sophie replied.

Will pursed his lips, reaching for a penlight. "Here, look straight ahead at the tip of my finger," he instructed, holding up his left index finger. "I'm just going to check your pupil reflex."

"Can you tell us what happened, Sophie? How did you end up crashing into Grace from behind?" asked Percy.

Sophie laughed nervously. "It was a tree root," she began, "and it was too dark." She proceeded to tell them everything. "Before I knew it, there was just pain everywhere," she finished.

Percy's eyes were sympathetic. "I'm sorry you had to experience that, Sophie. We typically don't greet newbies with weapons blazing," he joked, trying to calm her nerves, "We're actually nice people, honest."

It was the first time Percy thought about it that way, but he had to admit – although it was the Romans on the West Coast who were famous for their intimidating battle formations, their campers did look pretty terrifying in the armour and weaponry getup, especially when they charged together. He shuddered internally, thinking about how they very nearly obliterated a little girl.

"I can vouch for that," piped up Will from the corner, readying a flask and several sterile wipes. Sophie managed a small smile.

"Okay Sophie, we're going to use some nectar to clean you up. The drink of the gods, but it also works well as a healing antiseptic," explained Will.

Sophie frowned. Whenever she scraped her knee back home her dad, a doctor, would use antiseptics to clean the wound. One thing she knew – it stung. Badly. And this time it wasn't a scraped knee – it was three huge gashes.

_Uh oh,_ thought Percy. His mind flashed back to two years ago, when Annabeth took that poisoned knife to save him. Will had cleaned it then with nectar, and Percy remembered just how much she had yelled.

"No no no…" stammered Sophie, "It'll hurt!"

"I'll hold your hand," Percy offered quickly, "You need to get it cleaned so it doesn't get infected."

"Percy's right," said Will. "Come on, show us how brave you are, okay? We'll take it slow and gentle. Just yell out if you need me to stop for a bit, okay?"

Sophie hesitated. Since she was little, she seemed to be scared of everything. Sophie was always timid and cautious, wary of trying new things. She cried easily, and feared much. She was not brave.

But, here she was at Camp Half-Blood – and supposedly a _demigod_. If it meant anything, maybe it was time to start being brave – even if it meant putting up with a whole lot of stinging and burning pain.

"Alright," Sophie swallowed.

"Good girl," smiled Will, as he carefully wet the cloth with nectar.

Sophie grasped on to Percy's outstretched hand, and braced herself for the pain. His hand felt warm and strong. The sting did come – just as horrible as she had expected. Sophie clung on to Percy's hand and pressed her lips together, determined not to cry out.

"Doing well, Sophie, give me just five more seconds and we're done," murmured Will, as he worked on her leg.

Sophie sent a pained expression to Percy, who smiled comfortingly. "Let me tell you about Camp Half-Blood," he started, intending to distract her from the pain.

Will was faster. "Done! Your leg is all cleaned and bandaged," Will exclaimed, "Good job, Sophie."

"Am I done?" asked Sophie hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," answered Will reluctantly, "You've got one more on your side and another smaller one by your shoulder."

"Oh…" Sophie responded shakily.

"We'll take it slow and easy," comforted Will, "Don't hesitate to tell me to stop if you need a break, alright?"

Cleaning out the gash on her side hurt a lot more than the one on her leg. "Ah…" Sophie whimpered. She had turned on her side so Will could work on the wound more easily, and Percy stood in front of her, holding her hand.

"It hurts," she managed to say to Percy, tears forcing their way out of her eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry," said Percy, internally wincing himself, as he handed her a paper towel to wipe her tears, "but you know what? You're doing better than Annabeth did," he winked.

Focusing on the distraction, she asked, "Who's Annabeth?"

"My girlfriend," answered Percy readily and with a twinkle in his eyes, "but don't tell her I said that, okay?" he laughed, and Sophie managed a slight giggle.

"Done!" announced Will from behind Sophie. "You're doing great, very brave," he encouraged, "just one more little one on your shoulder okay?"

As Will applied a bandage to her side, Sophie asked Percy, "Do you have younger brothers or sisters?"

"About a hundred," answered Percy with a small chuckle, and at her startled expression, "I'm just kidding!"

"Technically I have one, Tyson, he's a Cyclops – adorable," winked Percy, such that Sophie did not know if he was being serious, "but I also think of the younger campers here as my little siblings."

"Oh," said Sophie.

"Percy's a veteran in Camp," laughed Will from behind her, "He's one of our leaders."

Percy grinned and waved off the teasing compliment. "And so are you, Will," he returned amusedly.

Sophie smiled softly, noticing the camaraderie between both of them.

"If one of my parents is a Greek god," she began curiously, "how do I know which one?"

"Claiming," said both Will and Percy together. "Your godly parent will claim you by uh... making a flaming sign appear above your head, usually their sacred symbol." Percy explained.

"Oh," said Sophie again. _How embarrassing, _she thought. "Who is your parent, Percy?"

"Poseidon, god of-" Percy trailed off - inviting her to take a guess.

"-the... sea?" guessed Sophie.

"Well done. So you do know a little about Greek mythology then?" Percy smiled.

"I read a lot," murmured Sophie shyly.

Percy could tell. In fact, the expression Sophie carried on her face when thinking was uncannily similar to his Wise Girl. Even her eyes were the same colour. The only exception was her hair, which was coloured a charming light brown. _She's like an adorable, brown-haired miniature Annabeth, _Percy chuckled to himself.

"Okay Sophie, here comes the last one right by your shoulder - just hang in there, you're doing a great job." said Will with his nectar-dipped cloth.

Sophie grimaced as the stinging sensation came again. "Ow..." she complained. Percy felt for her - she looked absolutely miserable.

"Here, I want to show you something," said Percy, as he got two paper cups and filled one up with water from a tap next to the bed.

Her interest piqued, Sophie watched as Percy placed his outstretched palm by the filled cup. The water floated up and out of the cup, gathering into a sphere as he slowly curled his fingers inwards.

She gasped, amazed. Percy smiled and made a pulling motion with both hands, changing the water ball into a long shape, much like a length of rope, and had the ribbon of water do a loop-de-loop before landing perfectly into the second cup.

Sophie gaped in disbelief. Slowly, she grinned. "Again, Percy!" she cried eagerly.

Percy chuckled at her delight, and once more lifted the water from its container. This time, he brought the water sphere close enough to Sophie and she touched it, completely in awe.

"I wish I could do that," said Sophie dreamily, as Percy returned the water to its cup - not a single droplet escaped his control. Percy laughed.

"All done!" announced Will with finality. "And thanks to Apollo, your gashes have closed together nicely. This would have taken twenty or so stitches in a mortal hospital," said Will, as he admired his handiwork. Sophie gulped at the last sentence, turning to Will, and saw that he looked a little tired.

"Healing - drains him every time," explained Percy, "Good work, Will."

"Thank you," said Sophie, genuinely grateful.

"No worries, kid." Will smiled and tousled her hair gently.

As Will cleared away the sterile wipes and replaced the flask of nectar, Sophie turned to Percy and whispered, "And thank you too, Percy."

Percy looked surprised, but smiled warmly. "You're welcome. You were real brave today," he replied, "Now get some rest, and we'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Sophie nodded, happy. _They are nice people, _she thought, as Percy and Will bid her goodnight, quietly retreating from the room.  
As the adrenaline in her system faded away, she began to feel sleepy.

_I am brave, _she smiled to herself, as she drifted into unconsciousness.

**A/N: I am hoping, if time permits, to write more stories in this continuum where we'll get to see Sophie participate in camp activities for the first time, overcoming her timidity, and interacting with more of your favourite original characters! Do follow this story to see new chapters as they come!**

**Can you guess which Greek deity will turn out to be Sophie's parent? She will be claimed in my next 'Sophie' fic! Please don't hesitate to give me a review so I can improve :)**


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